Individual packaging of single rolls of pressure-sensitive adhesive tape



Nov. 29,1955 w. D v|s 2,725,142

INDIVIDUAL PACKAGING 0F SINGLE ROLLS 0F PRESSURE-SENSITIVE ADHESIVE TAPE Filed Nov. 26, 1951 hum 70,?

United States Patent 1 2,725,142 INDIVIDUAL PACKAGING OF SINGLE ROLLS OF PRESSURE-SENSITIV E ADHESIVE TAPE Donald W. Davis, Roseville Township, Ramsey County,

Minn., assignor to Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Company, St. Paul, Minn., a corporation of Delaware Application November 26, 1951, Serial No. 258,117

1 Claim. (Cl. 20659) This invention relates to the packaging of rolls of pressure-sensitive adhesive tape of such character that the peripheral portions thereof are particularly susceptible to bruises and to other damage such as the flattening of a portion of the peripheral surface that sometimes occurs when the roll is on edge resting on its peripheral surface in storage.

Heretofore rolls of tape have thus been packaged by enclosing the roll in a box and holding the roll in a fixed position therein, e. g., by suspending or anchoring the roll by a hub-like or similar suspension structure in the center of the box that engages the inside peripheral surface of the annular roll, or by a supporting structure at the sides of the box that engages the outside peripheral surface of the roll. However, the known means for such packaging has been either too fallible or, when relatively infallible, of such construction as to render the cost prohibitive or the time consumed in the packaging operation prohibitive.

An objective therefore is to provide a simplified low cost high speed packaging means for relatively soft rolls of pressure-sensitive adhesive tape, such as rolls of masking tape, wound on hollow cores, that will effectively protect the peripheral portions from contacts that would alter the shape or otherwise damage the roll in ordinary storage, handling and shipping.

In accomplishing this and other objectives, the present invention departs completely from the prior art conception of holding the roll fixed in relation to an enclosing box or carton. The present invention employs instead a free ring of relatively rigid construction which fits around the roll of tape. The nested or ringed roll is then inserted in a box. The ringed roll may be left free to move about within the box since the peripheral surface of the roll is at all times protected by the rigid ring.

Being complementary in shape to the peripheral surface of the roll, the ring will not tend to flatten the roll or otherwise damage the roll when the peripheral surface of the roll rests upon or otherwise contacts the ring.

The ring acts as a cradle for the roll.

An illustrative embodiment is described below and illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure l is a perspective view of a ring, a roll of paper backed pressure-sensitive adhesive masking tape and a' box;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the roll nested within the ring, and of the box; and

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the nested or ringed roll partially inserted in the box.

The ring may be of any material of sufficient relative rigidity and toughness to retain its shape and to protect the peripheral surface 11 of the roll of tape 12 when the ringed or cradled roll contacts the sides of the box during the packing, transportation or other handling of the packaged rolls, or during storage. The illustrated ring 10 is of cardboard.

The ring 10 is of a sufiiciently large diameter to fit easily and quicqkly over the roll 12 during an assemblyline packaging operation.

The box 13 having a top 14, a bottom 15 and sides 16, is also of cardboard, its inside dimensions being enough greater than those of the ringed roll to permit rapid inser tion of the ringed roll into the box during the packaging operation; at the same time the fit should be relatively snug. The height of the box should be less than that of the ringed roll to prevent the ring from coming off the roll.

In the illustrated construction shown, the inside dimensions of the box 13 are 5" x 5" x The roll 12 contains of 4 width masking tape and has an overall diameter of about 4 /2". The ring 10 is high and has an inside diameter of 4 The space between the roll and the ring when the two are in nested relation is thus g".

Obvoiusly the above dimensions, as Well as the proportions, may vary widely within the scope of the invention.

In operation, a moving belt is usually employed. The rolls of tape are placed on the belt in spaced relation to each other. As they pass by, a ring is dropped over each roll. Thereafter the ringed rolls are successively removed from the belt and inserted in boxes, one to a box.

The present invention offers many useful advantages over the means heretofore employed for the individual packaging of rolls of tape.

For example, a simple box of ordinary construction can be used; no specially constructed hub or other means for holding the roll of tape fixed in the center of the box, need be built into the box. Nor does the box need to be supplemented by the suspension pads heretofore employed for similarly holding the roll in the center.

Two simple units are all that are needed, namely, a ring and an ordinary box.

Another advantage concerns sizes and dimensions. Precision in this respect is not as critical here as in the prior packaging constructions Whose effectiveness depended on holding the roll in a fixed position. Radial movement of the roll within the ring and/or of the ring Within the carton, is immaterial. Thus a greater tolerance in the dimensions of the box, the ring and the roll, is permissible.

When packaged according to the present invention, relatively soft rolls of tape may be stored on edge for long periods of time and be handled and shipped in the ordinary manner without being dented, flattened or otherwise altered in respect to their true shape as a result of peripheral contact, or otherwise damaged as a result of such contact.

I claim:

A packaged roll of pressure-sensitive adhesive tape consisting of a container, a rigid preformed continuous ring nested within the container, and a relatively soft roll of pressure-sensitive adhesive tape nested within the ring, the said roll consisting of a rigid preformed core with the tape wound thereon, the height of the core being equal to the width of the tape; the width and length of the container being substantially equal to each other; the height of the ring being at least as great as the height of the roll and approximately equal thereto, and the height of the container being slightly greater than the height of the ring; the outside diameter of the ring being slightly less than the inside width of the container, and the outside diameter of the roll being slightly less than the inside diameter of the ring; and the ring being a free ring unattached either to the container or to the roll.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,070,940 Bauer Aug. 19, 1913 1,587,567 Wallin June 8, 1926 1,640,368 Obetz Aug. 30, 1927 1,760,732 Willoughby May 27, 1930 1,808,530 Cooley June 2, 1931 2,101,355 Wonder Dec. 7, 1937 2,309,396 Jackson Jan. 26, 1943 

